06/07/26 On Saturday, March 22, 2026 eighty-seven K-12 players competed in the 2026 Maine Scholastic Individual Chess Championships at Lewiston High School. ChessMaine.net reporter on the scene, Jacoby Grotton, submitted this report.

Thanks to Jacoby Grotton for contributing to this report.

>> Crosstable of this event <<

>> Selected games from this event <<

The High School Championship section ended with a struggle for first place. Charlie Creswell won the event with a decisive score of 4.5/5 to win the event with the final round being a draw with Henry Shannon. Close behind was Samuel Lewis, who has made his mark in the past year by gaining 220 rating points! He finished with 4/5 points to achieve second place.

Third place went solely to Henry Shannon with an impressive draw in the last round against Charlie Creswell. Close behind in 4th and 5th place were Kody McGregor and Maxwell Alexcovich with 3/5 and 2.5/5 points respectively.

The Middle School Championship section was a fight on all fronts, with 6 players being within 1 point of first place. Dimitri Smalley finished in first with 4.5/5 points with an amazing performance. 4 players tied for second place in what was no doubt a hard-fought fight, especially in the last few rounds. Second-place players include Theodore Reichl, Arkan Das, Mya Brichacek, and Phoebe Alexander, all finishing with an impressive 4/5 points each.

Heading to the K-5 Championship, we have a largely one-sided victory from Shaurya Kumar, who got an impressive 5/5 sweep to win the tournament! Runner-Up went to James Hard,y who also got an impressive score of 4/5. Close behind was Marin Alexander, who achieved a score of 3.5/5. 4th and 5th place were tied spots but ultimately went to Holton Kang and Caius Vermette. That was quite the performance from all players in the K-5 Section, and I can speak for all of the Maine players when we say we would be thrilled to see all these participants in the Middle School Championships very soon!

Swooping into the competition are the participants in the K-3 Championship, and the spotlight goes to Luke Robles with a perfect score of 4/4. Close behind is Tejas Seegobin with a substantial performance of 3/4. Tied for third is quite a group of people, including Bohdi Lee, Claire Ostrowski, Elias  Knaus, and Luke Marden, all with an impressive performance of 2/4. 

Moving on to the High School U1400 section, and dominating the section is Thomas Tardiff with a perfect score of 4/4. Tied for second, we have Myles Brichacek and Vivian Walker with a valiant performance of 3/4.

The Middle School U800 section was full of intense rivalry, with the player coming out on top being Finn Monhan with a perfect score of 4/4. Next up in line is Brenna Tipping with an amazing score of 3/4. Tied for third with a score of 2.5/4 are Owen Guy and Collin Erickson.

Last but not least, we have the K-5 U500, which is an astonishing performance from all parties. In first place, we have Matt Oguan with 3.5/4. Tied for second place are Stephen Nicholas and Daphne Hahmann with a score of 3/4. The runner-up in this section, with a score of 2.5/4, is Vera Marden.

Thanks again to all the people who showed up to this annual event. Your participation helps Maine chess as a whole.